Straight line walking

[jmarkb]

Not my idea of fun, but each to their own.... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58400061

I'm a bit confused about what the OS classifies as a road (presumably the blue lines on the map) - some Land Rover tracks seem to count while others don't. So were the participants, it seems!

[Alex W]

I quite often have crazy ideas of a route - link all the Carn Deargs in one trip or pick the longest high level route from a recognised town/ village to a remote summit. I'm a bit too old for most of that nonsense now, but walking in a dead straight line is something I just would never contemplate. Mighty respect for the two who did it. It sounds tough. Is there any tolerance? I mean you wouldn't walk through a waist high bog just because you couldn't deviate a few metres - would you?

[al78]

I would have guessed the longest straight line route without crossing a road would be somewhere near the Forest of Atholl bounded by the A9 and the A93. I'm sure somewhere in there is the furthest point you can get from a metalled road on the mainland, somewhere near Beinn Bhreac.

[denfinella]

I'm a bit confused about what the OS classifies as a road (presumably the blue lines on the map)

I thought you'd have realised they were burns and rivers by now, jmarkb?

[jmarkb]

I thought you'd have realised they were burns and rivers by now, jmarkb?

So that's where I've been going wrong all these years!

[jmarkb]

I reckon that with a more reasonable definition of a road, this line through the Monadhliath is a couple of kms longer than any possible line through the Cairngorms:

New_Route (3).gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

[Alex W]

The problem with any old straight line route is that in a mountainous area many of them will be simply impossible due to terrain - either impossible climbs or sheer drops or lochs. Part of the challenge will be finding a route it is possible to do.

[simon-b]

The problem with any old straight line route is that in a mountainous area many of them will be simply impossible due to terrain - either impossible climbs or sheer drops or lochs. Part of the challenge will be finding a route it is possible to do.

Good practise for the traditional, Silva compass skills from the pre gps era! Boxing around obstacles and counting paces. And aiming off would stagger your straight line, of course.

In Wainwright's time, he considered such straight line map and compass walking a modern technique. Now gps and the increasing number of made paths have revived even older traditions such as faithfully following zig zags.

[mrssanta]

Nuts! But absolutely hats off to them

[CharlesT]

Nuts! But absolutely hats off to them

Splendid! British eccentricity at its best. 🙂

[jmarkb]

Splendid! British eccentricity at its best. 🙂

See also https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/tom-davies-mission-across-wales-youtube
The concept dates back (at least) to the work of Richard Long https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/17/ten-miles-on-exmoor

[CharlesT]

Splendid! British eccentricity at its best. 🙂

See also https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/tom-davies-mission-across-wales-youtube
The concept dates back (at least) to the work of Richard Long https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/17/ten-miles-on-exmoor

They're all bonkers!

[Marty_JG]

Someone walks 10 miles in a straight line, "wow, that's a monumental, heroic effort."

The Romans build 1,500 miles of arrow-straight roads in the UK alone some two thousand years ago... "yeah whatever."

[simon-b]

Someone walks 10 miles in a straight line, "wow, that's a monumental, heroic effort."

The Romans build 1,500 miles of arrow-straight roads in the UK alone some two thousand years ago... "yeah whatever."

Fair point, but then again the roads were built to make straight line marching across the terrain easier. And in those days, it was the Romans who broke up their 'UK' by building a wall to keep out the SNP (Scots 'n' Picts).

[litljortindan]

Surely in walking a chord length of 78.5km they will have deviated from a straight line by approximately
6371*(1-COS((ACOS((6371*6371*2-78.5*78.5)/(2*6371*6371))/2)))*1000 = 121m at the mid-point?